Alcoholism with aging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alcoholism with aging - Essay Example The increase in diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and stroke among the aged in the population raises attention interest among researchers. The aged in the society refers to the citizens of sixty-five years and above, and these are mostly the retired members of the society. Researchers gain interest in the health of the aged so that they can determine the causes of the diseases and methods of treatment. Research indicates that the diseases that adults suffer from mostly arise as a result of heavy consumption of alcohol (Rigler, 2000). This means that at least one out of every ten members of the retired group suffers a certain disease because of consuming alcohol (Mellinger, 2002). The findings of these researches continue to reveal facts, which need to be studied further to help in determining a solution that may reduce or prevent this predicament. The abuse of drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, and heroine was said to be common among the youths until the twentieth century when investigation was carried out in this field. The investigations indicated that the youths consume more alcohol than adults in terms of quantity, but the undesirable consequences of the behavior are more among the aged. This means that even the little quantities of alcohol may cause serious health damages among the elderly in the society. This phenomenon arises because the bodies of the elderly are more sensitive than those of the youths. The sensitivity arises from the wearing out of the adipose tissues, muscles, and cells. The adipose tissues also increase because of the reduction of water in the body; while muscles reduce as fat deposits enlarge in the body (Merrick, Horgan, & Hodkin, 2008). The health effects of alcohol consumption differ between men and women because of the biological differences in their bodies. The effects also differ because of the variation in drinking patterns with men being the more vulnerable than